Madden NFL 10: Online Co-op Hands-on

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Time to test out one of this year's biggest features.

By Nate Ahearn

This year's Madden packs a lot in the way of gameplay and feature enhancements. While it's sure to be maligned by many as being "the same as last year," I think those that spend a lot of time with Madden NFL 10 will be pleased with the amount of content EA Sports fit into a relatively short development cycle. One of the biggest changes to the classic Madden formula is the addition of online co-op. You and a buddy now have the ability to hop onto either Xbox Live or PlayStation Network and team up against the AI. How well does the oft-requested game mode perform? Read on for the answers.

First things first, when you first hop into the Xbox Live or PlayStation Network menus from the Madden NFL 10 main menu, you'll want to select unranked co-op match. If none exist then you'll create one for a buddy to hop into. You pick your team, you pick the team that the AI will use and then take a short break while staring at a loading screen before tag-teaming the CPU.

If you're the player who created the co-op match then you'll essentially be the host. You're going to be the one making decisions at the coin toss and for every play call. The other player is shown a simple summary of the three most recent plays and their outcome. Let's just hope I never get stuck playing against my sworn nemesis on Xbox Live. Controllers will fly.

That same host player defaults to the quarterback, but it is possible to switch off to another spot on the field pre-play. The second player is defaulted to the running back and can also switch between any other player. In my experience it was the most fun – unsurprisingly – to play as either the running back, wide receiver or quarterback. Being an offensive lineman is pretty boring 90% of the time. When playing as a wide receiver I had no problem creating space and getting open for a pass. The running back position was fun as long as I wasn't left in the backfield blocking thanks to an audible from the quarterback.

Obviously EA Sports hopes that teamwork will make it into almost every co-op game played. I had a wonderful strategy-driven drive down the field when playing with a developer from EA Sports. I was the quarterback and he'd line up at wide out. He wouldn't follow the designed route, but instead he'd carve his own path on the field and make his way into open space for an easy pass. We marched down the field and put it in for an easy six. Defense is a little tougher since things happen so quickly on the field, but friends who are invested in the best and most authentic football possible shouldn't have issue formulating a plan before each snap.

The biggest change – aside from the fact that you're playing online with a friend for the first time – is the camera angle. It's similar to what you'll see from Superstar Mode in that it's basically a third-person viewpoint. It's much closer than the standard camera and will definitely take some getting used to if you're accustomed to having a wide-angle view of things. The camera performed reasonably well in my short demos, the only problem cropping up when switching players. This didn't change the experience all too much on offense, it was the defensive side of the ball that proved more problematic.

Switching players is commonplace on defense. I, for one, begin as a defensive lineman or linebacker but inevitably wind up finishing the play as a defensive back on pass plays. On running plays I'll stay as a defensive lineman unless something goes awry. On pass plays I found it a bit disorienting to switch players from the front of my line to a defensive back in pursuit. The camera has a slow pan so it was tough to get my bearings at first. Hopefully this will get better and more conducive to effective defense as I spend more time with a final retail build.

When I first hopped online and played with one of the guys down in EA Sports' Tiburon Studio in Florida, there was considerable lag and the framerate dropped significantly at times. Since IGN's main office is located right outside of San Francisco, my next online session was on our own network in the office and it saw favorable results. I'll need to spend more time with the mode off of the confines of PartnerNet's developer networks and see how it fares in the wild before passing final judgment.

Having two-player cooperative gameplay is a big step forward for Madden football. There's no doubt about that. If you're a Madden freak you're probably going to hop onto Xbox Live or PlayStation Network within the first day of picking up your copy. Provided the experience is smoothed out a bit before it hits the retail circuit, we could have one of the best multiplayer games of the season on our hands.

Stay tuned tomorrow as we show off some of the new Madden Moments you'll find in Madden NFL 10. The game is scheduled to launch on August 14 on Xbox 360, PlayStatoin 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, iPhone and PSP.